Is Ronnie Getting Better?

So long as Ronnie does not have to play that negative grinder Selby, Ronnie can still win some more World Championships. Would love to see him win at least 2 more to equal or beat Hendry's record

spartan said:

So long as Ronnie does not have to play that negative grinder Selby, Ronnie can still win some more World Championships. Would love to see him win at least 2 more to equal or beat Hendry's record

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True dat Selby knows how to get under his skin for sure , Ding also has given him some game but Ronnie really likes him may have let off the gas peddle to allow him to win in the past


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The only person that could stop Ronnie from winning more World Championships is Ronnie himself. He's in the kind of form where you have to play exceptionally well (and get a little lucky) in order to beat him. Guy's the best overall cueist right now.

He himself admitted that he is a better tournament player now. The only question is how long he can maintain this level of consistency.

O'SulliReyes said:

The only person that could stop Ronnie from winning more World Championships is Ronnie himself. He's in the kind of form where you have to play exceptionally well (and get a little lucky) in order to beat him. Guy's the best overall cueist right now.

He himself admitted that he is a better tournament player now. The only question is how long he can maintain this level of consistency.

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True dat again after one of his world wins he thanked his sports shrink in his speech on the side he knocked off Strickland in the MC ,, IMHO he is second to none with a cue in his hand of all time


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one stroke said:

True dat again after one of his world wins he thanked his sports shrink in his speech on the side he knocked off Strickland in the MC ,, IMHO he is second to none with a cue in his hand of all time


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Agree. Genuine superstar. Loved how he still behaved like humble newbie around Archer, Jeanette Lee,Earl in American Hustle Hope they do another season of that show

Scoring wise, it's probably his best season for centuries, making 1 every 6.6 frames. That's just stupid good. For 50+ breaks he's at 1 per 2.05 frames which is not even his best in a season. I think his best is 1.88. For reference Hendry never scored better than 1 century per 13 frames and 1 50+ break per 2.3ish frames.

But in general, at 42 Ronnie is indeed playing better than ever. I'm hoping for a world title this season but I'm nervous that he has peaked too early.

spartan said:

So long as Ronnie does not have to play that negative grinder Selby, Ronnie can still win some more World Championships. Would love to see him win at least 2 more to equal or beat Hendry's record

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Ronnie defeated Selby 16 time out of their 26 meetings.

BeiberLvr said:

I don't think most 20 year olds would take this shot on, let alone make it at the speed Ronnie does.

https://youtu.be/lwFig4h1oR4?t=1h31m

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Definitely a shot worth one point.

I don't think Ronnie is playing better than ever, it's just that all the other elite players are all way behind their peak! Robertson, Ding, Murphy are not exactly what they're used to be, Higgins is in a hit and miss situation, Selby has yet to hit some form despite having won one ranking tournament, Judd Trump is struggling to break through as winner and looks more and more like a modern version of Jimmy White. But the most worrying part is that there 's a complete absence of upcoming young players that have the talent and the charisma to rule the world like the all time greats had when they were at their age. Only Yan Bingtao has shown some interesting signs but still he's way behind as a player when you try to compare him with Ronnie or Hendry when they were at his age (17). So the fact a 42 year old Ronnie still bossing it doesn't come as a surprise to me. Snooker's biggest problem is that the game is dying in the UK and China isn't producing the amount of talents one would have thought a decade ago, the process is very slow.

snucar said:

I don't think Ronnie is playing better than ever, it's just that all the other elite players are all way behind their peak! Robertson, Ding, Murphy are not exactly what they're used to be, Higgins is in a hit and miss situation, Selby has yet to hit some form despite having won one ranking tournament, Judd Trump is struggling to break through as winner and looks more and more like a modern version of Jimmy White. But the most worrying part is that there 's a complete absence of upcoming young players that have the talent and the charisma to rule the world like the all time greats had when they were at their age. Only Yan Bingtao has shown some interesting signs but still he's way behind as a player when you try to compare him with Ronnie or Hendry when they were at his age (17). So the fact a 42 year old Ronnie still bossing it doesn't come as a surprise to me. Snooker's biggest problem is that the game is dying in the UK and China isn't producing the amount of talents one would have thought a decade ago, the process is very slow.

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tisk tisk you know what players peaks are?

Ronnie is playing better then ever,open your eyes.dont let your brain get in the way.

Your SVB comments seriously detract from taking you as a educated observer

alphadog said:

tisk tisk you know what players peaks are?

Ronnie is playing better then ever,open your eyes.dont let your brain get in the way.

Your SVB comments seriously detract from taking you as a educated observer

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A pointless and rather useless comment from someone that most probably has never picked up a snooker cue in his life. Even Ronnie himself admitted after winning the UK Championship that he's nowhere near the level he was in 2012/13. Just the fact that in the last 2 ranking events the majority of the top 16 players went out before the last 16 stage should tell you something.

I agree with Snucar's analysis, though I wouldn't speak of "peaks" either. Those can be identified at the end of a career. Ding, Murphy, and especially Robertson have certainly had better seasons than 2017.

Maybe parity is in the mix? Guys such as Maguire and Gould can be grizzly bears on any given day.

I also wonder how many of the top ten have been smart with their winnings and are set for life.

Don't discount Sunny Akani.... he has as much raw talent as anyone I have ever seen, and seems to be in the "starting phase " of coach- ability ".

I predict he will be the next rising star ( alongside Yan Bingtao)

To many variables to say for sure, with format changes, number of events etc, but his century average is probably the best it's ever been.

I would say Ronnie is a better all round player now and a far better winner.

This is amazingly the first time he's won 3 ranking tournaments in a single season (plus he's been in another 2 finals), so he has been pretty consistent.

However I would say he has not always been at his fluent best.

His top gear is perhaps even stronger than ever, but he can't always seem to engage it, especially not for entire matches (or even sessions). When he does we get days like the English Open final where he had a 98% pot success rate and missed 6 balls the entire match (he won 9-2).

But the key difference now is that he is mentally stronger and much more willing to grind out results when perhaps a few years ago he would have given up.

On form no-one can beat him, but as we saw in the Champion of Champions final, when he's off form he can get beaten. Also of course some of the early rounds are first to 4 frames, so those can be a bit of a lottery.

He definitely could win the World Championships this year, but I do think the shorter formats actually suit him better these days (in the past he was able to maintain that top gear for longer and simply blow everyone away). That said, Selby has been poor so far this season so that will probably boost his confidence as I think he's the only player that worries him.

snucar said:

A pointless and rather useless comment from someone that most probably has never picked up a snooker cue in his life. Even Ronnie himself admitted after winning the UK Championship that he's nowhere near the level he was in 2012/13. Just the fact that in the last 2 ranking events the majority of the top 16 players went out before the last 16 stage should tell you something.

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I would love to play some snooker on a table like I see Rocket play on. I have only played on 1 6x12 and it was a 5 handed golf game where after I longrail banked into the 1 hole it was 5 against 1. Even you are smart enough to figure out who the 1 was.
I have banked the wild 6 18x in a row on a 5x10.
That killed that action.

That a majority of the top players went out early can be attributed to many things and "peaking" may have zilch to do with it.

Ronnie

He’s a stone cold champion, he shoots straight as a arrow.
he’ll run 147’s for fun... when he’s about to run a 1 4 7 and he knows he can, he will ask how much the prize pot up to for running a 1 4 7... if pot is fairly low he’ll run a 146 on purpose to load up the prize pot and give his competition a rabbit to chase.
Ronnie AKA MR.146’

If he was to seriously take up 1pkt those players will have a big tree to climb...




Rob.M